Battles with the Spree: Nick Hornby's "Housekeeping vs. The Dirt"

Book: Housekeeping vs. The Dirt

Author: Nick Hornby

Pages:153

Copy: Sonoma County Library paperback

Read: first week of October

Spoilers: essays--so what's there to spoil?

This is the first book by Nick Hornby that I've read, and it isn't a bad introduction. While Hornby is perhaps better known for his fiction, he is a truly delightful essayist. He has an engaging voice and he isn't afraid to give his opinion (though The Believer requires all book reviews published in its pages to be positive--forcing Hornby to engage in some amusing acrobatics when he reads something he doesn't like), two important characteristics of an essayist. That his subject is rather narrow (he focuses on his opinions of books and rarely ventures further into social commentary as, say, George Orwell might) is his only limiting factor. However, Hornby is a surprisingly fascinating character, so his essays don't suffer dramatically; nevertheless, I must admit that I've forgotten most of his opinions, and it's been less than two weeks. He's amusing, but fleeting.

Perhaps the best aspect of his essays is his honesty about magazine-writing. He describes the many battles he has with his editors: the differences of opinion, the attempts at control and manipulation, and so on. To what extent he is exaggerating is difficult to ascertain, but even his exaggeration is amusing. (For instance, the number of editors fluctuates sensationally from, for example, 55 to 15 to 430. To this moment I have no idea how many editors he has, though in one quasi-honest passage he says there are 64. But I still don't believe him completely.) He seems like a particularly difficult person to deal with (at the very least, that is the personality he develops throughout the pages of his reviews), but he's always amusing in his crankiness.

Hornby reviews a variety of books, but each review is so short it's hard to decide whether or not you want to read the book yourself (though I'm not entirely sure getting you to read any of these books is the point--I think Hornby uses his essays to explore what is interesting to him by way of what he reads each month, which isn't a bad alternative). To be honest (since this isn't The Believer), Hornby's essays are incredibly scattered, occasionally making them difficult to follow. At times this collection felt like a very small piece of something much larger, with references that didn't make sense to someone jumping in to the middle (this is the second collection of articles from his column--perhaps his first, The Polysyllabic Spree, would clear up some of the things I missed).

At any rate, Hornby is a good writer and he has an excellent voice. His articles might be best for those who read omnivorously and who read a lot. His essays aren't aimed at the average American reader, which isn't to say they're written academically. But there is an obvious strain of elitism and snobbery that runs through them, a strain that might put off some readers. Then again, almost all essayists have those that love them and those that loath them.

--Benvolia

Body Parts: "Breasts"

Book: Breasts

Author: Florence Williams
Pages: 283
Copy: advanced reading copy from Readers' Books (my copy is therefore different from the actual hardcover that was released in May)
Read: July 5-7

Spoilers: another non-fiction piece...

Prior to August 2009, I'd never given my breasts much thought.  As a young woman uncomfortable with the trappings of traditional femininity, breasts embarrassed me.  But when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, when my mom lost one of her breasts, I began to think about my own differently.  I'm still not entirely comfortable with my breasts, but I certainly don't hate them like I use to.

This is a round-about way of opening a review of this book, but I think it's important for me to admit that I read this book because I have a history with breast cancer.  I knew perhaps half of what Williams wrote about and the other half had more to do with society and evolution than with breast health.  I don't know how groundbreaking her book really is, no matter how groundbreaking she considers it.  For instance, much of her discussion of chemicals can be found in other places, particularly in any writing that looks at chemicals in the environment.  That being said, anyone unfamiliar with the topic of chemicals in the environment and the body will find this book an informative start.

In some ways, this book makes it appear that any woman living in the United States is going to get breast cancer.  Caught between the chemicals in our food and possessions and our medical habits, breast cancer has become more and more likely.  If you add genetic history to the mix, getting cancer seems inevitable.  I doubt that this was Williams' intention, but I certainly finished the book wondering when I was going to get cancer--not if.  Perhaps this is the greatest weakness of the book, that Williams never offers any sort of solution or way forward.

Overall, this book is fairly good.  It's informative and scientific without being overwhelming.  Williams is certainly channeling Mary Roach's style of non-fiction (personal anecdotes, involving her family and herself in experiments, occasional humorous asides, and so on), but Williams doesn't do it as effectively.  Perhaps her next book will be able to effortlessly capture the spirit of Mary Roach, but in this book Williams comes off as trying too hard.

I would suggest this book to anyone who is distantly connected to breast cancer--perhaps a friend of a friend or a distant cousin has been diagnosed and you want to learn more.  It's a good introduction to the topic and all the different ways that breast cancer can arise.  It's possible this would be a good book for someone who has gone through breast cancer, but I think anyone who has been through cancer knows much of this information already.  I worry that anyone who is closely connected to breast cancer would leave this book fearing for their lives--so be prepared for that.

--Benvolia

Update: September 17, 2012

The New York Times recently ran a review of Breasts.   Like most NYT book reviews, this one fawns a bit, but it certainly gives a better overview than my own.  The reviewer also makes some interesting points.  "I hope," the reviewer writes, "men will read this book — not because it will make them less inclined to drool over bizarre, artificially enhanced, porn-star cleavage. But because the dangers that Williams details are not exclusive to women. They threaten our entire species."  At any rate, if you want another point of view, here you go.

Lady Essayist: "Slouching Towards Bethlehem"

Book: Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Author: Joan Didion
Pages: 238
Copy: a friend’s
Read: June 30-July 4

Spoilers: this is non-fiction—can you really spoil non-fiction?

One evening, as my friends were otherwise celebrating, I had this book, open to the essay "On Self-Respect," thrust into my hands.  (The same friend had previously tried to explain Didion's point about putting a paper bag over one's head, but the exercise didn't really make sense until I actually read the essay.)  I was instantly enamored of Didion.  I read "On Self-Respect" twice before I was dragged back into the festivities.  Joan Didion has a fantastic writing style, rivaled only, I think, by George Orwell.  Her writing is crisp and direct, much like Orwell, and she has the most wonderful turns of phrase.  Some of her sentences read more like poetry than like journalistic prose.  (I think Orwell is slightly better because he can handle tangents so dexterously.  Didion doesn't venture into such territory often, and when she does she keeps it to a sentence or two.  Only Orwell could write 5-10 pages on some topic entirely unrelated to the main body of the essay and still make it important.)


I went into this book thinking I hadn't read any Didion before, but I realized when I read "Marrying Absurd" that I'd read at least one of her essays before.  Surprisingly, I can't for the life of me remember where I encountered this essay before, but I do remember reading it.  I will undoubtedly read more Didion, just as soon as I can get to the library.  Didion is one of those authors I can easily see myself reading every word of.  Her mastery of the essay-form is just too amazing to pass up.


While "On Self-Respect" is still my favorite of her essays, "On Keeping a Notebook" is also exceptional, as is her essay on the Central Valley, "Notes from a Native Daughter."  Some of her essays are uneven and many end surprisingly abruptly, but even her unexceptional essays contain beautiful sentences and perfect images.


Despite the fact this collection is uneven, I'd highly recommend reading it in order.  There's something about reading the pieces in near-chronological order that is simply amazing.  Her first essays are interesting and certainly contain the seeds of the genius that is to come—but they just aren't the same.  However, when they are read as early essays, their shortcomings aren't as visible.  While most collections of essays can be flipped through willy-nilly, this book rewards a straight-forward, linear read, at least the first time.


I also think that any aspiring woman writer, especially if she aspires to write essays, should buy this book and read it daily.  (I think any aspiring male writers should do the same, but female essayists are so few and far between that Didion will perhaps have a deeper impact on women.)  "On Self-Respect" should be read by every young person, especially those that are struggling with internal issues—shyness, loneliness, what have you.  Her points are true, even if they feel a little painful on the first reading.  By the second reading, her points will feel less like accusations and more like coded advice.


—Benvolia